Mazda and Toyota said they still need approvals and authorization by antitrust agencies for the new joint venture. They announced a capital alliance in August and plans to jointly develop technology for electric vehicles.

Trump tweeted in March he wanted "new plants to be built here for cars sold here." Many automakers have announced expansions of facilities or new jobs but no other new U.S. auto plants have been announced.

U.S. auto industry sales have been declining, and there is some concern that the new plant could exacerbate overcapacity and pressure vehicle prices. U.S. new vehicle sales fell 2 percent in 2017, after hitting an all-time record high in 2016. Sales are expected to fall further in 2018.

A year ago, President-elect Trump criticized Toyota and threatened hefty tariffs against the Japanese automaker if it built its Corolla sedan for the U.S. market in Mexico.

In October, Toyota said it would scale back investment in a planned plant in Mexico by 30 percent to $700 million and cut planned annual capacity in half to 100,000 vehicles as it shuffles its production plans to meet market demands.

Over the last 30 years Toyota, along with German and other Asian automakers, has built a second auto industry in the United States whose size and employment rivals operations of the Detroit Three automakers, but with newer plants and fewer unionized workers.

States covet auto assembly plants because they typically pay above-average wages and spin off jobs at suppliers and service companies. Southern U.S. states have been home to the majority of new auto production by German and Asian automakers. These states generally enjoy good transportation infrastructure, business-friendly regulators and generally anti-union politicians.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; additional reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by David Gregorio)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)